This file image provided by IntelCenter on Dec. 8, 2010, shows a frame grab from a video released by the Taliban containing footage of a man believed to be Bowe Bergdahl, left. / AP

by Katharine Lackey and Oren Dorell, USATODAY

by Katharine Lackey and Oren Dorell, USATODAY

Five Guantanamo Bay detainees were transferred to Qatar on Saturday in exchange for the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had spent nearly five years in captivity.

A Defense Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with department requirements, said the five former detainees were mostly mid- to high-level officials in the Taliban regime who were detained in the early part of the war in 2001 because of their positions within the organization, not because of ties to al-Qaeda.

The official named the detainees as:

â?¢ Khairullah Khairkhwa, an early member of the Taliban whose most prominent post was as governor of the Herat province from 1999 to 2001.

â?¢ Noorullah Noori, who served as governor of the Balkh province and played a role in coordinating fighting against the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance.

â?¢ Fazl Muhammad, the commander of the main force that fought against the Northern Alliance in 2001 and served as chief of army staff under the Taliban. He was also accused of war crimes during the Afghan civil war in the 1990s.